The Garden City Telegram
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A magical night
Published 4/4/2009 in Local News : GCCC
By SHAJIA AHMAD
Kathy Kinney went home with a 2009 Honda Accord, and Garden City Community College Endowment Association members are hoping they've gone home with much, much more in scholarship winnings for students.
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Brad Nading/Telegram — Skip Mancini, left, provides a reading for Kim Elpers at a fortune teller's booth Friday at Garden City Community College Endowment Association's scholarship auction.
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Brad Nading/Telegram — Garden City Community College Ambassador Katie Novack maneuvers a Trek bicycle from The Bike Rack between the audience and the stage to show it as the bicycle is auctioned off during the live portion of the GCCC Endowment Association's annual scholarship auction Friday at the Finney County Fairgrounds exhibition building. The ambassadors showcased the items on the auction for the audience to view.
The Garden City resident and hundreds more took part in Friday night's 31st annual Garden City Community College Endowment Association Scholarship Auction, hosted at the Finney County Exhibition Building at the Fairgrounds and aimed at raising funds for the college's endowment.
Christened "Abacadabra," the magical event brought out crystal balls, magicians' wands and even a fortune teller to entertain a charitable crowd of several hundred, who were there to bid on items ranging from gift baskets to grills, bicycles to autographed basketballs, and even week-long vacations throughout the night.
While the bids kept coming in, volunteers poured drinks to a rowdy and chatty crowd, and several attendees ran around with wide pitchers of beer.
Early in the night, a burst of cheers came from one table where six women had made a successful $400 bid on a girls' night out program for 20 women, complete with neck massages, appetizers, wine tasting and other goodies courtesy of Corner on Main.
"Now all we have to do is find 14 other girls!" said Sheryl Dick at her table, where she and her friends, Kim Elpers, Rebecca Claar, Ardis Fry, Paul Van Norden and Julie Leon celebrated their victory.
This year's crowd rivaled last year's, where more than a thousand had gathered and raised more than $143,000 for academic and technical scholarships to assist students at the community college.
Totals this year from the live and silent auction, admission charges, and a raffle will not be tallied until later this weekend, said Melinda Harrington, the endowment association's executive director. The association is hoping for just as much this year, if not more, Harrington added.
At the start of the night, at least 780 of the 800 tickets priced at $50 had been sold in the drawing to win a 2009 Honda Accord or a Las Vegas vacation for two. Auctioneers drew the names of 10 individuals throughout the live auction Friday night, from which Kinney's name was chosen as the winner of a brand new $25,000 vehicle provided by the GCCC Endowment Association and Keller Leopold Insurance Inc.
Kinney was ecstatic as she hugged friends and family and pointed to the shiny black car.
"I can't believe, I just can't believe," she said. "I won!"
The winner of the vacation, Amanda Warkentine, also from Garden City, was not present during the event.
With an endowment of about $7 million last year, the college was able to distribute more than $383,000 to 713 students in the last academic year.
The annual auction has grossed nearly $2.1 million since its inception in 1979.
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